Tuesday, April 25, 2017

A few weeks ago, a friend who has read my time
management book 'Half a Million Words in Nine Months' asked me: 'Do you feel like you need to be in a
zone or space for writing?'

It's a good question, because I hear a
lot of writers talking about 'the zone' or 'the muse'. However almost
universally, the long time, prolific authors don't believe in it, or say you
have to teach yourself to make 'the zone' when you need it.

I told my friend (who is a new mother)
that it was like being a mother. You just do it. You don't get to not do it.
You don't get to decide for a few days that you don't feel like being a mother
and go back to being a single party girl. You just have to be a mother. She
said her manuscript wasn't screaming or kicking or hungry and latched on to her
whether she liked it or not, and that's fair enough. It was, perhaps, a bit of
an intense analogy.

If you want to write seriously, you
should treat it like a job though. You probably don't wake up 'feeling' like
you want to go to work. Even if you love your job. However you need the money
so you do it. Sometimes it takes some coffee and grumbling, but you do it,
because there isn't much choice. If you approach writing with the same
attitude, that you just have to do it, you will, well, do it.

As I have said before, however, I
rarely have to 'drag' myself to write. I enjoy it. Yes, it is work, yes it is a
job, but I like doing it. Even the difficult bits are difficult in a way I
enjoy, and I really only struggle when my health makes focusing difficult.

So what about 'the zone'? I think we've
all felt it at some point. When the words are flying and you're having a fantastic
time and you're so absorbed in the project you don't want to do anything else. It
exists, you've felt it. So why do some authors say it's not real?

Brace yourself, I am about to blow your
mind.

When you're not in the zone, what you're
feeling, that reluctance, that unwillingness to write, is anxiety. There's no 'zone' you need to get into, you're just
feeling insecure. The 'zone' you're looking for is ego. Or, at least, the
temporarily ability to turn off that voice that says you aren't good enough.

'The zone' is your natural state,
without criticism or doubt. It's an unwillingness to write, an apprehension,
that is the unbalanced, abnormal state.

The trick is, those big prolific
authors? They still feel anxious. They still feel pressure. They still feel
like a huge fraud and worry their next book is going to tank. Only it's going
to be super public. Everyone is going to know about it and talk about it. That
anxiety doesn't go away when you're published. For a lot of people, it gets
worse.

The trick is learning to turn that off
while you are writing. Be anxious about that shit in the shower or driving or
trying to sleep at night, but NOT when you are sitting down to write.

This is why I slow down when I have
deadlines. The pressure, the anxiety, makes it difficult for me to write. It's
also hard for me to write one book if I am getting edits for another book at
the same time, because the criticism overflows and I can hear my editor's voice
while I am trying to write. It feels like someone is looking over my shoulder,
judging things as I type them.

You probably know the feeling. The point is, it's
just that. It's a feeling. It's not a real thing that is actually happening, it
is a thing you are imagining. It's like being deeply traumatised over your
parents' death when they are both still alive.

'The zone' is just the times you can turn off
that inner criticism for long enough to actually get shit done. There are
several ways to achieve this, but what works for you is going to be pretty
personal. So I am going to let you figure that out and say this instead:

I'm not going to say you don't deserve criticism.
Maybe you're a shit person, I don't know. I am
going to say that you and I both know that abusing and berating people
doesn't motivate them. So if you keep abusing an berating yourself about your
writing, it's not about motivating yourself. It's about making an excuse so you
don't have to do it.

But you actually don't have to do it. Creating art is an optional extra in life.
Something we are privileged to have the opportunity to do. Don't piss away your
chances because your ego isn't playing ball today.

And remember, support other writers. Tell
them you're excited to read their stuff, tell them what you love about it. They
feel just as insecure about their writing as you do about yours. We're all in
this together, start acting like a fucking team.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Do you get migraines? I do. In fact, for a number of years, I had
migraines 90% of the time. I am a migraine expert. A migraine queen. Perhaps
even some kind of migraine demi-god. Odd thing about migraines, having them 90%
of the time is more tolerable than having them 40% of the time. The comparison
of good and bad makes them worse. When it's all shit all the time you just get
used to it.

Anyway, over the many years of chronic migraines, this is what I have
learned. This is my plan of action when I feel a migraine coming on (visual
halos, dizziness, hearing sensitivity, etc):

1. Take medication.

I take two panadol and two nurofen. You can swap panadol for panadine
or nurofen for aspirin. It's safe to have them together. Just don't take two
types of pills with panadol together, or two types of anti inflammatories
together. Panadol + nurofen = okay. Panadol + panadine = overdose and liver
damage.

2. Drink a full glass of water.

This can be hard if the nausea has already settled in, but trust me, it
reduces the length and severity of the migraine. If it's really hot or you
haven't been drinking much, drink two glasses of water.

3. Have a shower.

A hot shower will help release your neck muscles and clear your
sinuses. A cool shower will stop you sweating. Have whichever is appropriate.

4. Get dressed in clean,
comfortable clothes.

You're going to be lying down a while, so get comfortable. I find clean
clothes though. Nothing is worse than feeling shitty AND grungy.

5. Clear the space you're going
to be recovering in.

I know it's hard when you feel like shit, but tidying and organising
the space I'm in makes a huge difference to me. I get quite distressed by
'visual noise' when I have a migraine, so a mess makes me very tense.

6. Get a glass and a large
bottle of water.

I like to keep my water in a bottle and pour it into a glass as I need
it. I get terrible shakes when I have a migraine and this saves me spilling
half empty glasses of water everywhere when I fail around trying to reach
something.

7. Have snacks in tupperware
within reach.

I prefer one savoury (nuts) and one sweet (dried fruit). Nuts are
really good for omega three and the fruit is good because the sugar gives you
high calories without you having to eat much. Which is preferable for nausea.

8. Hot packs and ice packs.

Hot packs on your neck, back or feet can make a huge difference. If the
pain is really sharp, I put ice packs on top of my head too. Both are great.
Even if you are exhausted and miserable, make the effort, it's worth it.

9. Put on shows and movies you
love and have seen dozens of times.

Why stuff you have seen before? Because if the volume is really low and
you zone in and out, you can still follow what is happening. You can tune in
for your favourite parts, tune out when you want to and still have a form of
entertainment. Most of my migraines don't allow me to read (books or subtitles)
or focus enough to follow new shows or movies. So older favourites are great.

If you prefer silence, that's okay too. However I get bored too quickly
for that. I'll also sometimes play video games that are easy and don't require
too much input. Something like Banished or Sim City 4. Even Civ 5 on easy mode
or Sims 3-4 can be a pleasant occasional distraction.

10. Put phones, alarms, etc on
silent.

Put a sign on the front door saying 'shift worker: don't knock' or
'sleeping baby: don't knock'. Mute your phone. Take your house phone off the
hook. Whatever it is, you can't deal with it when you have a migraine anyway.

11. Lie down and relax.

Turn off the lights, close the curtains, close the windows and minimize
sound pollution. You should have everything you need for the next four hours,
then you can take your next round of pills, go to the bathroom, check your
phone and pray to God it is over soon.

This is all pretty simple stuff. You've heard it before. But doing all
of it (actually doing it, not just thinking about doing it) makes a huge
difference. These steps are also set out in the order they should be followed
for maximum benefit. Things like taking the pills FIRST, before the shower and
set up, so they are starting to work while you are doing the active parts. That
way, organising yourself won't make the migraine much worse.

Give this a go next time you feel a migraine coming on and tell me how
it turns out.

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About Me

Born in 1985, Talitha is a geeky Australian writer who spends an unhealthy amount of time reading and watching horror movies. She also loves fresh water shrimps and snakes, and lives in a house dominated by various tanks housing both. She advises that shrimps are the best companions for writers; as they always look like they are typing. Snakes, on the other hand, simply knock everything off your desk—including keyboards, mugs, entire computers and shrimp tanks.
Talitha’s other interests include entomology, rock climbing, reading, web design, photography and video gaming.